Tape wheel for shuttleless looms

ABSTRACT

An improved tape wheel for shuttleless looms having an expansion joint formed in the rim thereof for the purpose of preventing expansion of said rim in a radial direction when subjected to the heat generated by a flexible tape which during the performance of its intended function is continuously being wrapped about and thence extended from said rim.

United States Patent Flamand 1 June 27, 1972 [54] TAPE WHEEL FOR SHUTTLELESS LOOMS Inventor: Maurice R. Flamand, Cumberland, R.l.

North American Rockwell Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Filed: May 27, 1971 Appl. N0.: 147,364

Assignee:

.....l39/l22 R US. Cl. Int. Cl. ..D03d 47/18 Field oiSearch ..l39/l22 R, 123, 124 R, 127R References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1967 Flamand ..139/l22 R 1/1970 Dewas ..l39/l22R 6/1970 McClure ..l39/l22R Primary Examiner-Henry S. J audon Attorney-John R. Bronaugh, Floyd S. Levison, Dennis O'- Connor and Richard A. Speer [5 7] ABSTRACT An improved tape wheel for shuttleless looms having an expansion joint formed in the rim thereof for the purpose of preventing expansion of said rim in a radial direction when subjected to the heat generated by a flexible tape which during the performance of its intended function is continuously being wrapped about and thence extended from said rim.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TAPE WHEEL FOR Sl-IUTTLELESS LOOMS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Shuttleless looms of the type to which the instant invention is applicable have opposed carrier elements which are attached to the free ends of flexible tapes. The opposite ends of these tapes are fixedly attached to a point on the outer peripheral surface of oscillating tape wheels disposed at the sides of a loom. The carrier elements are caused to enter a warp shed and to be withdrawn therefrom by the wrapping and unwrapping of the flexible tapes on and from their respective tape wheel.

As is known to those familiar with the art, this type of loom utilizes an outside source of filling, that is, the supply is not carried to and fro through the warp shed by a shuttle or the filling inserting member itself. The filling yarn is measured and cut to the required length for extending across the width of the fabric being woven.

A first carrier inserts the filling into the warp shed to a point adjacent the center thereof where it is then transferred to a second carrier member which extends it through the remaining portion of said shed to complete the laying of a single pick.

The tape wheels are oscillated slightly less than a full revolution and as the tapes are being withdrawn from the shed they are wrapped tightly about the peripheral surface thereof. When the tapes are being unwrapped from their respective wheel and inserted into the shed, guide members are required to hold them radially inward and in close proximity with the rims of said wheels.

A number of U.S. patents describe and clearly illustrate the looms and mechanism for actuating flexible tapes and carriers by means of oscillating tape wheels and it is considered unnecessary at this point to insert herein a detailed description of these mechanisms. Attention is hereby drawn to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,604,123 and 2,810,403.

A common form of guide means utilized for maintaining the flexible tapes in close proximity with the rims of tape wheels is that of a plurality of arcuate shoe members made of such materials as impregnated wood or plastic.

The heat generated by the frictional contact of the tapes with the shoe members is considered a serious condition for when these heated tapes make contact with the rim during their withdrawal from the shed as well as near the end of their insertion stroke when said tape wheel decelerates, a substantial amount of this heat is transmitted to said rim.

The clearance for the tape between the rim of the tape wheel and the guiding shoe members is held very close for obvious reasons. Continuous transmittal of heat to the tape wheel rim creates a problem of thermo-expansion of the latter causing said rim to buldge outwardly in the areas intermediate the supporting spokes.

Expansion of the rim in this manner reduces the clearance between the tape and guiding shoe members. If all clearance is lost due to the buldging of the rim section, the temper in the flexible tape will be lost and will require replacement. Additionally, the tape wheel will remain distorted and require replacement as well as many guiding shoe members which would obviously be unusable when subjected to a condition of this nature.

The present invention provides an expansion joint in the rim portion of the tape wheel which permits said rim to expand in a direction normal to a plane containing the axis of the hub portion of said wheel. By forming the expansion joint in that portion of the rim subject to the greatest amount of heat transmittal, the entire rim can expand as described by deflection of the various supporting spoke members without buldging outwardly between said spokes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The improved tape wheel of the present invention includes an expansion joint in the rim thereof relatively close to the point of attachment of the flexible tape and is situated in that area which travels the greatest distance relative to the guiding shoe members disposed about and in close proximity with said rim. A small portion of the rim is removed intermediate a pair of supporting spokes defining an opening between a pair of aligned end surfaces of the rim.

When heat is transmitted to the rim by the flexible tape, said rim is caused to expand by reducing the distance between the aligned end surfaces thereof. This expansion joint permits the spoke members to deflect and expand the entire rim section without buldging outwardly to decrease the clearance between the rim and the guiding shoe members.

To guide the rim at the expansion joint section and to prevent vibration of the end surfaces defining the opening, a channeled support guide is provided having one end thereof attached to the rim adjacent one of the end surfaces and with the opposite end extending beyond and in close proximity with the other end surface of the rim.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved tape wheel for shuttleless looms having means to permit thermo-expansion thereof without decreasing the tape clearance between said tape wheel and the peripheral disposed guiding shoe members.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide an improved tape wheel for shuttleless looms having an expansion joint formed in the rim thereof.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent by reference to the appended claims and the accompanying figures of drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation and partially in section of one end of a loom showing the tape wheel expansion joint according to the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the tape wheel expansion joint in FIG. 1 showing the channeled support guide for the rim of said wheel and its means of attachment thereto;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the tape wheel expansion joint shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing wherein only as much of a shuttleless loom structure is depicted as is necessary for a complete understanding of the invention, there is shown a tape wheel housing 10 having on its inner side an integrally formed supporting bracket 11 which is attached to the loomside 12 by means of bolts 13 and 14.

A tape wheel generally indicated at 15 is mounted for oscillating movement in the housing 10 and although only the lefthand structure is shown in FIG. 1, it should be understood that a similar structure is disposed at the opposite side of the loom.

The tape wheel 15 includes a hub portion 17 with spokes 18 extending therefrom to support a rim 19. One end of a flexible filling carrier tape 20 is fixedly attached to the rim 19 by means of a bolt 21 as at 22.

In close proximity with the outer surface of the tape 20, housing 10 includes a plurality of arcuate shoe members 23 which are attached thereto by means of cap screws 24 and are circumferentially disposed throughout a considerable extent, at least, of the circumferential extent of the tape wheel 15.

The flexible tape 20 is positioned intermediate the rim 19 of the tape wheel 15 and the inner surfaces of the shoe members 23 which are arcuated to conform to the outer periphery of said tape wheel.

The carrier which is attached to tape 20 is depicted by numeral 25 and is that carrier which receives or has transferred to it the filling yarn to be extended through the shed to complete a single pick.

As the tape 20 is wrapped about and unwrapped from the rim 19 of the tape wheel 20, it is guided into and from the fabric shed by a straight horizontal guide member 26 that assembles to the upper surface of the support bracket 11 by any suitable means.

The tape wheel expansion joint according to the invention is identified generally in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 by numeral 27 and has a section removed forming end surfaces 28 and 29 in the rim with an opening 30 therebetween.

To provide lateral support for the end surfaces 28 and 29 a channeled support guide 31 is attached to the rim adjacent the end surface 28 by means of rivets 32 and 33. The opposite end of the channeled support guide extends beyond and in close proximity with the end surface 29 of the rim 19.

In operation, the tape wheels are oscillated to and fro slightly less than a full revolution and the flexible tapes attached thereto are caused to insert and withdraw their respective carriers from the wrap shed in timed relation to the weaving cycle. The expansion joint serves to permit thermo-expansion of the rim of the tape wheel in a direction which decreases the size of the opening 30 intermediate the end surfaces 28 and 29 of the tape wheels rim. This means of preventing loss of clearance between the rim of the tape wheel and the arcuate shoe members has substantially increased the life expectancy of the tape wheels, tapes and shoe members as well as eliminating what is considered an excessive amount of loom shut-down time necessary to repair or replace these parts.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An improved tape wheel for use in a shuttleless loom in which flexible tapes are inserted into and withdrawn from the warp shed by being wrapped about and extended from said tape wheel respectively, said improved tape wheel comprising:

a. hub means joumaled for effecting oscillation of said tape wheel;

b. spoke means extending outwardly from said hub means;

c. outer rim means supported by said spoke means with attachment means for anchoring one end of a flexible tape thereto; and

d. means formed in said rim means whereby said rim can expand in a direction normal to a plane containing the axis of said hub means and extending outwardly therefrom to intersect said rim means.

2. The improved tape wheel according to claim 1 wherein said means formed in said rim means comprises a pair of aligned and spaced end surfaces of said rim defining an opening within which said end surfaces are movable during thermoexpansion thereof.

3. The improved tape wheel according to claim 2 wherein said rim means includes a further means for maintaining said end surfaces in alignment and to prevent vibration thereof.

4. The improved tape wheel according to claim 3 wherein said further means comprises an expansion joint for said rim means located adjacent the attachment means for the flexible tape which includes a channeled support guide with one end thereof attached to the rim adjacent one of said end surfaces and with the opposite end extending beyond and in close proximity with the other end surface of said rim. 

1. An improved tape wheel for use in a shuttleless loom in which flexible tapes are inserted into and withdrawn from the warp shed by being wrapped about and extended from said tape wheel respectively, said improved tape wheel comprising: a. hub means journaled for effecting oscillation of said tape wheel; b. spoke means extending outwardly from said hub means; c. outer rim means supported by said spoke means with attachment means for anchoring one end of a flexible tape thereto; and d. means formed in said rim means whereby said rim can expand in a direction normal to a plane containing the axis of said hub means and extending outwardly therefrom to intersect said rim means.
 2. The improved tape wheel according to claim 1 wherein said means formed in said rim means comprises a pair of aligned and spaced end surfaces of said rim defining an opening within which said end surfaces are movable during thermo-expansion thereof.
 3. The improved tape wheel according to claim 2 wherein said rim means includes a further means for maintaining said end surfaces in alignment and to prevent vibration thereof.
 4. The improved tape wheel according to claim 3 wherein said further means comprises an expansion joint for said rim means located adjacent the attachment means for the flexible tape which includes a channeled support guide with one end thereof attached to the rim adjacent one of said end surfaces and with the opposite end extending beyond and in close proximity with the other end surface of said rim. 